Lake Worth man indicted on tax fraud charges

Published Wednesday, April 19, 2006

WEST PALM BEACH -- A Lake Worth tax preparer who once wrote a book on how people could purportedly claim tax deductions for ordinary living expenses has been indicted for tax fraud involving more than $6 million in losses to the federal government.

Louis Wayne Ratfield was charged in a 56-count grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday with advising clients to claim deductions for such things as food, utilities, clothing and education through what he called a "common-law trust." The indictment says that Ratfield sold these "trusts" to clients for up to $5,995.

Ratfield wrote a book, "The Constitutional Common-Law Trust," that advises readers on how the scheme worked, according to the indictment. Ratfield allegedly prepared some 252 fraudulent tax returns under the scheme that resulted in $6.4 million in federal tax losses.

The Justice Department had previously filed a successful lawsuit barring Ratfield from preparing tax returns. The indictment charges him with criminal contempt for allegedly continuing to promote the trust scheme after that order was issued.